Breathing: Snoring's Cause?

Breathing and snoring are really the two things people associate when they produce snore sounds as they sleep. It is a logical conclusion to come to. The sounds are produced as you breathe and that is really the only way that you could look at it. Scientists have been looking into this problem for generations and they have struggled to find the answer. There have been discoveries on this problem, but there is a lot more to learn. I'm going to let you in on all this information about your breathing and the snoring problem.

I hope you can recognize that the sounds you hear are the vibration of respiratory structures. It's this vibration (a better word is resonation) that causes the sound. Resonation is a concept that you would have heard back in high school physics class. It states that when you have two frequencies both with an amplitude of A and have the same frequency, you'll end up with a wave of 2A at the same frequency. It's not enough for your respiratory structures to vibrate and create snoring. It has to be a growing type of vibration that builds, which is resonance. The Tacoma Bridge is an example of this concept.

I bring up this scientific concept with snoring because it explains exactly what is happening. Now that we know there is a buildup of vibrations we can now define what is vibrating. The causes of snoring really come down to the soft palate, uvula, mucus and whatever else is in the airway of the throat. You can get a general idea of what we're talking about with the graph below of the mouth. I think this will really show how snoring aids can really help you out a lot. It is as simple as investigating the mouth area.

You've probably thought of snoring surgery at this point because removing the tissue would solve the problem. I think going this direction is a bit over the top, but it does work. The procedure is known as uvulopalatopharyngoplasty. And in case you didn't know, this is really the name of the procedure. It is the reason why people rarely ever talk about it because they can't pronounce it. All it attempts to do is widen the airways of the throat by removing tissue like the uvula and pharynx.

The reason that I'm not a fan of snoring surgery (uvulopalatopharyngoplasty) is for a few reasons. The cost of going through for surgery is quite expensive. You're going to have to stay overnight for observation and this sort of thing can add up fast. Scarring is a huge problem and there really is no way to tell beforehand. You can have a lot of scarring in the throat area and that will actually create blockages. Patients have developed severe sleep apnea going this route. I just think there is a lot of risk going this route and you are more susceptible to things like infection.

I digressed from the topic there for a minute. We're talking about breathing, snoring and whether they're related. It is obvious that they are related, but does the breathing cause the actual vibration of snoring' This question has plagued medical researchers for some time, but they were forced to recognize one important fact; you don't snore while you're awake. If you're breathing patterns remain the same, yet it doesn't produce snore sounds while you're awake than there has to be another variable in play.

The whole snoring problem can be summed up with pressure around the throat area. There are a number of reasons why this is the case.

Pressure from the jaw - The jaw actually can fall out of alignment when you sleep due to tense muscles and stress. It's something that is the most likely cause of snoring. The best way to take care of it is with a Jaw Supporter.

Obesity - When you have a lot of fat on your body than you're going to have a lot of fat around the throat. They don't call it a double chin for nothing. That fat has weight and it puts a lot of pressure on the throat area.

Alcohol/Drugs - You may have noticed that you start to snore after you drink or maybe your snoring is worse than normal. Well, this happens because alcohol and drugs will actually cause your muscles to relax in the throat area. This means that they'll sag and be more susceptible to vibrations.

Tongue Position - Just as you have muscles that hold up your jaw, you also have muscles that hold your tongue in place. While you sleep those muscles relax and the tongue slips back down closer to the throat. It's not that you're swallowing your tongue or anything like that. It's that your tongue positions itself much closer to the throat and narrows the airways.

This is a list of some of the more common reasons why you snore. Breathing is something that causes the vibrations, but there is another important variable that comes into play. This answers the question on breathing, snoring and whether they cause each other.

About Author: Charles Nash is a dedicated health enthusiast that has struggled with snoring most of his life. Through tedious studying and understanding of the problem he was able to beat it. The information on this page is copyrighted. You are only allowed to republish this information on your site if you provide a link directly back to this page and leave all links within the article in place.

This information is not intended to replace the advice of a doctor. The opinions expressed here are of the author only. All information is for education purposes only. If you plan to use any information, first discuss it with a licensed physician that is well aware of your medical history.